Tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP), also known as 1,1-dimethylhydroperoxide or 2-hydroperoxy-2-methylpropane, corresponds to the formula:

Tert-butyl hydroperoxide is known for its use as a polymerization initiator: under appropriate operating conditions (temperature, redox conditions, etc.), it breaks down to produce free radicals that will generate active sites on the backbone of the compound to be polymerized.
It can also be used as a starting material for the synthesis of other organic peroxides, such as peresters, peroxyacetals or peracetals, dialkyl peroxides or monoperoxypercarbonates.
There are several routes for the synthesis of tert-butyl hydroperoxide from isobutene, isobutane or tert-butanol, these starting materials all being obtained from non-renewable starting materials of fossil (oil) origin.
However, oil resources are limited, and extraction of oil requires digging deeper and deeper and under technical conditions which are increasingly difficult requiring sophisticated equipment and the implementation of processes which are increasingly costly in energy terms. These constraints have a direct consequence on the cost of producing tert-butyl hydroperoxide.
The problem forming the basis of the present patent application is that of proposing other routes for the synthesis of tert-butyl hydroperoxide.
Advantageously and surprisingly, the inventors of the present invention have implemented a process for the industrial production of tert-butyl hydroperoxide from renewable starting materials.
The process according to the invention makes it possible to at least partly do away with starting materials of fossil origin and to replace them with renewable starting materials.
The tert-butyl hydroperoxide obtained according to the process according to the invention is of a quality such that it can be used in all the applications in which it is known practice to use tert-butyl hydroperoxide, even the most demanding applications.